Riverside
Police Department
Press Release

For Immediate Release

Date

May 16, 2003

Contact

Officer Felix Medina

Phone

(909) 826-5939

Fax

(909) 826-2594

Juvenile
Arrested for Making Criminal Threats

Riverside, Ca- On Thursday May 15, 2003 at
approximately 7:00 PM an anonymous person sent a tip to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) “Internet Tip Service” located in Washington D.C. The
information revealed a subject was posting messages in a chat room claiming he
was going to shoot up a school. The FBI reviewed the postings and determined the
messages referred to a school in the Riverside area. The FBI in Washington
contacted the local FBI Office/Joint Terrorism Task Force in Riverside for
assistance. The Riverside FBI Office immediately contacted the Riverside Police
Department.

A Riverside Police Detective with the Economic Crime/Forensic Computer Unit
immediately reviewed the chat room information provided by the FBI. The
detective located the e-mail address of the subject posting the threats and
identified a possible phone number and addresses at two locations in Riverside.
The detective supplied the Criminal Intelligence Unit with the information.

Members of the Criminal Intelligence Unit initiated an investigation and
conducted a threat assessment. Detectives located the subject and current
residence. The subject, a male juvenile 15 years old was contacted, interviewed
and subsequently arrested after he admitted to posting the threats in the chat
room. The detectives recovered ten firearms including handguns, rifles,
shotguns, ammunition and the subject’s computer. The juvenile was booked into
Riverside County Juvenile Hall for making criminal threats. The investigation
revealed the juvenile suspect had made preliminary plans to carry out the
threats to use firearms on the Riverside Poly High School campus.

The Riverside Police Department was in contact with school administrators from
Poly High School and the Riverside Unified School District. The district
immediately took action to assist the police department with the investigation.
The district advised that counseling would be made available to any student who
feels the need for assistance.

It was only with the cooperation of the FBI, Riverside Police Department and the
Riverside Unified School District that this investigation prevented a potential
tragic event. The Riverside Police Department is continuing to investigate this
incident but at this time it appears the juvenile suspect was acting alone and
there are no other subjects wanted for questioning.